Wednesday, May 28, 2014

There is always more than one way to do activities in our scrapbooking programs. Today, I am going to provide you with one way, tomorrow a second way to alter My {Story} 12x12' templates to letter sized paper (11 x 8.5") or any size. These My {Story} templates offer a challenge as they have so many different layers and shapes.

Although this article was written with PSE or PS in mind, the same basic steps can be followed for any scrapbook program that uses layers as we will primarily be duplicating, selecting and erasing.
I have gone into considerable detail, including tips/and shortcuts with many visual examples so you can follow along at home. Today we are using LissyKay's My {Crazy} Story templates.

Open your page sized as you wish. I am using a letter-sized page aligned with the long side as the width. (11x8.5"). I have titled my page: My {Crazy} Story letter sized.
Open your LissyKay Designs (LKD) template also in your scrapbook program.
Highlight all layers of the LKD template EXCEPT for the bottom layer, and duplicate/ copy the layers over to your page.

This is how it will look on your page... HUGE :), but don't worry!

Press Control/ or Command (on a Mac) 'T' and get a transform outline.

In order to see all of the outline, Press Cntl/Com '0' (zero) and you will see the whole page with the full selection outline.

To transform, but keep proportionate:

In PSE: Make sure 'Constrain Proportions' is checked at the top of the page.

In PS: Make sure the link is checked in between Width and Height at the top of the page.

In BOTH programs: Hold down the SHIFT key the entire time you are transforming and it will stay proportionate.

Select the bottom right handle, and drag toward the center until the bottom line of the template is even with the bottom of your page.

Before committing the transformation, using the move tool, move the template so the left edge is aligned with the left edge of your paper. Double click inside the selection to save, or click on the check mark at the top of the page.

Your page should now look like this.

Now HIDE all these layers, by clicking on the eye beside each of the layers.

TRICK: Hold down the Alt key and click on the Background layer at the bottom, and all the layers above the background will hide.

Repeat the exact same steps as above with a second different template from the same pack, but this time position on the opposite side of the page.

Reveal the frame layer of the first template (by clicking on the eye) and bring it to the top of the layers so it is directly below the frame of the template you just moved. Your page will look a mess, but this will help you choose what boxes you wish to keep.

Reveal the rest of the layers below, so the entire page is covered.

At this point, it is a matter of picking and choosing what boxes (or new shapes) you want for your page.

Use your 'MOVE' tool (Shortcut - 'V') to select which layer you want to alter by having AUTO-SELECT checked in the top left of the screen. (Auto-select will not show unless the move tool is highlighted.)

Erase using your eraser.

In PSE and PS, use the polygonal lasso tool to outline what areas to delete.

The polygonal lasso tool is found if you right-click on the lasso tool, then select polygonal lasso. This tool only selects in perfectly straight lines and a shape can be made by clicking on the corners. If you make a mistake with this tool, to "undo" a point, hit the BACKSPACE key.

At the top of the Polygonal Lasso toolbar, you will want either the first box or second square selected. The first box makes a basic selection. The second box allows you to add to a selection, the third box deletes from a selection.

However, to save time, I usually use the rectangle Marquee tool first, and draw a large rectangle over a portion of the second template that I know I will not want.

With the marching ants selection showing, I move down through the first layers, delete, delete, delete etc.

This next picture shows what it looks like at the beginning.

I then used the Polygonal Lasso tool.

Below is what it looks like after deleting/erasing many of the top unwanted frame and color layer.

If you are using a later version of PSE or PS you have the ability to use masks to hide selections.

***I would HIGHLY recommend that this be the way you 'erase' the frame outlines that you don't require.***

If you change your mind and want to change the selection, you can easily do so.

(See under this next photo for a brief explanation on masks.

To use a mask, highlight the layer you wish to 'erase/vanish' parts on.

Click on the icon that looks like a little camera. Usually found at the bottom or top of the layers panel.

This will place a 'white' mask hooked to the thumbnail in your selected layer.

Make sure your foreground/ background color chips are black and white. (Press 'D' to get them this way.)

Click directly on the mask you are about to use to select it.

Using a hard brush of about 90 pixels in size, with black, brush on the template and areas will disappear. Since you selected the mask you are truly painting on the mask. Black conceals your layer, painting it again in white will reveal your layer.

If you make a mistake or change your mind about what you want to see on your template, just use a white colored brush to paint the lines back in. It's that easy!

If you see that you are actually painting black on your template, you don't have the MASK selected.

In the photo above or below you can see the masks attached to my frame layers (the upper two layers) and how I have painted on parts of them to conceal.

You can use masks for other layers, or just erase parts of them.

Don't be afraid to zoom way in, in order to get a good selection!

Just about done!

Now to fill in the shapes, and close small gaps in the lines.

Use the rectangle marquee tool again to make a selection. Go to the color layer that fills most of the block, and fill the selection.

Last step! The frame and it's shadow.

The way I find it the easiest to do is highlight the two top frame layers and duplicate the layers. (Go to the drop down menu and choose duplicate layers.)

Remove the drop shadow layer style from these top 2 layers. (Drag the fx to the garbage at the bottom).

Merge these 2 layers together. (The ones you just copied without the drop shadows)

You merge by selecting both layers and pressing Cntl/ Com 'E'. or by right clicking and selecting merge selected layers.

Copy the layer style from one of the frame layers below, Paste it onto your newly merged frame layer, then hide both of the 'old frames'.

Now go down layer by layer and check to see if you are going to be using it or not. (Click on the eye of the layer to reveal / hide each piece). If you're not going to use it, DELETE it.

......... and Voila!!! You are totally ready to go!

Honestly the first one is the hardest, then you'll get super quick at it! :)

Next week we will look at a My {Story} templates that have shapes mixed in with the boxes.

1 comment:

That is so amazing! I was asked to do a tutorial on this concept last week actually, but then you did them...THANK YOU! :) But, I had never, ever thought of doing something like this. I probably would have just left the blank space on the side to journal, but this is absolutely amazing! I'll have to try one day! Thanks for your help!